Shadows of the Past
by KGal2000
Summary: Henna has abilities, and she wants to be a part of SHIELD. So when Loki returns, supposedly seeking revenge, Henna and the Avengers get called in. But Loki really wants to apologize and Henna's gifts tell her he isn't lying. Will the Avengers believe her, and what will happen to her when she falls in love with the mischief god himself? T because of language. OC pairing.
1. I Get Called In

The girl knew what he had done. She knew every part of his past, his dark, evil filled past. She knew he had the capibility to kill her at any moment.

And yet, she felt the desire to believe him. The desire to let him out of his prison cell.

The desire to make her team believe him, too.

The girl took a breath and slowly moved her finger towards the release button.

Lets back it up a bit.

That girl above, unfortunately, is me. Henna Levet. The girl with gifts, as my friend Sarah calls me. Though she doesn't know what those gifts are. Only I do.

Oh, and also SHIELD.

This is the story of how I let evil take my heart and let me believe that I was loved. That goes to show you that you should never trust in you abilities. They may just let you down in the end. Mine did.

The story begins with me in my office. I love my office. It's... how you say... _special_. Mostly because my boss works right across the hall, and he's the most... _special _guy that works here.

Here. That would be Stark Tower, in case you were wondering. That big bulding that sort of opened a portal into another realm last year that let an alien race called the Chituari into NYC an almost destroy... well, everything. Only the Avengers were powerful enough to defest the Chituari and the man who had opened the portal in the first place, Loki.

Believe me, I've _tried _to join SHIELD. I couldn't do anything anywhere else, so I figured I might as well try there. But apparantly I'm too 'inexperianced' join, so i got a job working at Stark Tower instead. I though that would be it.

Until I got the call.

That day had started off like a normal one, with me sleeping till nine thirty and then leaving my friend Sarah alone in our apartment to go to work. I drove there in my deep violet VW Bug and then rode the elevator up to the top floor. Then I used my key card to unlock the door and sat down at my desk. Finally I logged into my computer and began designing... technological stuff.

Then there's a knock at my door. I ignore it. Then the person rappidly knocked over and over and over, until I felt like my head was going to explode.

"_WHAT?!_" I snapped.

My door is pushed open by none other than my boss (and feaking Iron Man) Tony Stark. "Henna?" He asks.

"Sorry," I mumbled, fixing my gaze back on my screen. "What do you need, Mr. Stark?"

"I just- hold up, short stop."

I huffed. "I'm not short. I'm a year younger than you."

"What, exactly, is this?" He jabbed a finger at the wall, where my Belt just so happened to be hanging.

My Belt, in case you were wondering, held six good and sharp knives, a small pocket for my Pick, and another small pocket for my Ring.

Tony picked up one of the knives and gently ran his finger along the blade. Then he grabbed the rest of the Belt off of the wall and ran into his apartment.

Of course, he knew I would follow. And obviously, he had his compute JARVIS lock the door so I couldn't escape.

I stopped and folded my arms, pursing my lips. "You know, kidnapping and stealing are federal crimes," I said.

"Which is why I'm not doing either of them, Miss Levet."

"Oh, yeah? Then enlighten me. Explain why the door is locked and why you're holding my Belt hostage."

"Since when are _you _so irritating?"

"Since you started taking my stuff." I held out my hand. "Give."

He made a face. "First, explain to me what it is."

I sighed in defeat and plopped myself down on his designer couch.

"Hey, I didn't say you could-"

"Shut up," I said. Then I took a breath and began. "You know how you -or rather, Iron Man- works for SHIELD?"

"No." He looked about ready to kill me. I smiled. "I work _with _SHIELD. There's a _huge _difference there."

"_Anyway_," I said, stretching out the word to show that I didn't really care, "before I worked here, I tried to work with SHIELD. I showed them what I could do."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Which would be...?"

"Turn around. But slowly, so I don't murder you."

He obliged... and froze.

The Belt clattered to the floor.

"What. The. Hell." He whispered.

Of couse, I laughed. "Meet my knife."

Facing my boss, hovering in midair, was one of the knives from my Belt.

He spun around, eyes wide. Then he came over and sat next to me. "What else can you do?" He asked.

I laughed again and told him. "Move knives and a couple of other metals with my mind. Tell when people are lying. Read the minds of my enemies."

Then my phone rang. I answered it.

"Hell-"

I got cut off my an annoyingly familliar voice. "Henna. We need you to come in."

I stood up quickly, eyes wide. Then put my free hand on my hip and rolled my eyes. "Uh huh, sure. Give it up, your prank isn't working. I didn't make it in, remember, _Fury_?"

On the couch, Tony's eyes widened.

"I'm not joking, Henna. This is serious. It's public enemy number one."

"A serial killer?" My voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"No. Loki."

I freeze again. "I've got Stark," I whisper. "He's literally right in front of me."

"You still got the Pick?"

"And Stark's got the suit. Gonna meet you at the Helicarrier in and hour."

"See you soon, Agent Levet."

"Don't call me that." I hung up.

Stark stood. "What is it?"

"We're both being called in," I say in barely more than a whisper. "It's Loki."

The words have barely left my lips when there's the clanking of metal as Stark puts on his suit.

I slip on my Belt and buckle it tight. Then I slip on my Ring and pull out my Pick. My Pick is a black guitar pick, but when I press a hidden button, as I did now...

"Holy shit!" Stark yelled.

I was floating on a hoverboard.

"Close your mouth, Stark," I said, flying out the door. "You'll catch flies."

**What'd you think? Please review!**


	2. I Meet My Team-to-Be

**Thank you all for viewing this and fore your favorites/follows/reviews! I love you all (well, except the Chituari...) 3 :)**

I pulled up for an amazing landing, nearly crashing into a man wearing a dark green shirt. I stood and rubbed my newly scraped elbow. "Sorry," I said to him, flashing a weak smile.

The man slipped on a pair of glasses and picked up my hoverboard. "Amazing," he marvled. "How can you control it?"

I pressed a button, and he watched in amazment as it shrank back down to reveal my Pick. "I designed it so it magnetically attatched to my foot DNA," I said with a shrug.

He handed my Pick to me, where I slipped it into the pocket on my Belt. Then he held out a hand. "Dr. Bruce Banner," he said.

I shook it. "Henna Levet." I smiled. "I've heard of you, Dr. Banner. I especially enjoyed your work on Gamma radiation."

"Oo, ouch!" Stark said, landing much more gracefully then I had. He walked up next to me and pressed a button so his mask slid up.

"No, it's all right," Bruce said. "What did you like about it?"

"It showed me what never to do with Gamma radiation."

He stiffled a laugh. "Yeah, I guess it kind of does."

I smiled again.

"Henna?" Said a voice from behind me.

"No..." I said slowly.

"Yes you are. I though Fury said you didn't make it in?" I turned to see the face of Agent Maria Hill.

"I didn't," I replied. "But Fury also said that he needed me for this mission, so here I am."

"And what, exactly, would that mission be?" Bruce asked. "Fury never tells me anything."

"Loki," I said like I was saying something like, 'whatever'.

Dr. Banner was silent a minute. Then, "what did he say Loki was doing?"

I shrugged. "Fury never tells me anything."

He laughed.

"Loki has escaped his prison," said a heavily accented voice. Thor walked up to them. "I came to Director Fury with the news as soon as it occured. I believe my brother may be trying once again to claim Midgard for his ow- who are you?" He looked at Henna.

"The Wizard of Oz. Bow down to me." I smirked.

"You dare insult me, pety mort-"

"This is Henna Levet, my employee," Stark said with little enthusiasm.

"And yet I can kick your ass," I said, walking inside.

The Helicarrier left seconds later. I met Steve Rogers inside and was in the middle of teaching him how to text when Agent Clint Barton came in.

"Henna," he said, nodding at me.

"Mr. Hawk," I said, saluting him.

"How do you send it?" Rogers piped up.

"Press 'send'," I said, looking back at him.

"Okay..."

"Clint," Natasha Romanoff entered the lounge next. "Thor says Loki left last night, so Stark and Tony are searcing for massive energy sources in the last twelve hours."

"Nat."

"Oh, hey Henna. Like I was saying- what the Hell?! Henna?!"

"No, I'm her evil twin, _Hannah_."

"Fury said you didn't-"

I groaned. "I didn't, Natasha, he just called me in for this one time. God, if I here that question one more time...!"

"We got him," Banner said, joining us. "He's in Norway. Go figure."

"Why does he always show up in Europe?" Steve wondered aloud.

I stood up. "I'm going in," I announced.

"No, you're not," said Fury from where he was reading the report Banner had handed him. "I may have called you in, but you're still too inexperienced to be an Avenger. We'll send in Stark or somebody."

"Then why am I here?" I muttered, sitting next to the Captain.

"You are here because we might need backup," Fury responded.

"Then why call me in now?"

"I-"

"Girl's got a point," said Tony, joining the rest of the team. "If she wants to risk her life, I say let her. Especially of it's a high risk. We, heh, don't want her coming back now, do we?"

"Yes, we do," said Rogers.

"You were never any popular as a child, were you, Cap'in?" Stark asked.

"I-" Steve hesitated. "No, sir."

"Just as I thought," announced Tony, sitting himself down on the couch. "But I still say you let the girl run free. If she dies, she dies, and we'll all get over it. Right, fellas?"

"You know, Stark," I said calmly, twisting her ruby ring around my finger. "I know I may not have my belt with me now, but see this ring? If I press down on the ruby, it turns into a red pistol. Don't cross me."

He bowed. "As you wish, your Highness."

I smiled. "For my next command, fetch me a water bottle."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Did you not catch my sarcasm, Miss Levet?"

"I did, I just chose to ignore it."

Barton stiffled a laugh.

I looked around. "Okay, who votes I go compromise the criminal?"

Tony, Banner, Barton, Natasha, Steve, and Thor, who had just walked in and probably had no idea what the question was, raised their hands. I joined them.

Fury sighed in defeat. "Fine. You can go, but Romanoff and Stark will be nearby if there's a problem."

I grinned. "For me? There won't be. For Loki? I'll make sure of it."

**How was it? I love reviews more than anything, other than the Avengers! Reviews help me update faster! Special mention to ChelsieLynn, for her amazing advice. Go check out her stories; they rock more socks than mine do!**

**-KGal2000**


	3. Me in a Nutshell

**In this chapter, Henna's backstory is revealed. Again, thanks for ChelsieLynn's suggestion to put it in earlier than I thought! Thanks for viewing!**

I stared at the small village that lay in front of me. It was a historical village, one that refused to move on from the old ways of the past. Loki was nowhere in sight, and I cursed Stark. He probably gave me the wrong locaton.

My earpiece crackled to life. "Anything, Agent Levet?" It was Barton.

I pressed the speak button on the side of it. "Nothing yet, Clint. And it's just Henna." I let go of my earpiece and shifted uncomfortably in the old fashioned dress I was being worn to 'blend in'. The dress itself wouldn't even be so bad, if I hadn't been forced to wear it over my black jumpsuit.

Then something moved in the corner of my eye, unusual for late at night. I turned to see a dark figure approaching the rocky shore.

Slowly I walked closer, then hid behind a building. I watched the figure stand, hands behind his back, looking down at the water below.

"Henna? What do you-" I quickly shut off my earpiece.

The figure lifted his head and turn slightly. That face. The pale skin, emerald eyes, and longish, dark hair. Loki. Clearly seeing nothing -the unaware buffoon- he turned back to the sea.

I flicked my earpice back on. "Shush," I hissed. "Target sighted. Don't speak or my cover'll be blown."

No response. Good. Time to put on a show.

I cautiously approched him, then froze. "Sorry," I said, just loud enough for him to hear. He turned. "I didn't know someone would be here." I made sure to lace my voice with a Norse accent so he wouldn't be suspicious.

"Do not fret, my dear," Loki said, grinning widly, his eyes flickering. He took a few steps towards me, and my heartbeat quickened. "I was just leaving."

"I do not think that I recognize you," I said softly. "What would your name happen to be?"

"I think you very well would reconize me if I told you my name," Loki hissed. "So I will leave it up to you. Leave now, you insolent quim, and I might spare your life." He was now in my face.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

His hands tightened around my throat. "Pity," he said as i struggled to breathe. "If you weren't mortal, you might be beautiful."

"I still am," I managed and grinned. I kicked him in the crotch and while he was catching his breath I flipped him over my shoulder, tearing my dress in the process. I tore the rest of it off and pinned Loki to the ground with a couple of knives.

"Who... who are you?" He choked out.

"My name is Henna Levet," I said as I stood over him, my long, dark hair blowing in the breeze. "And I am your wort nightmare. Mwahaha!"

Then I started laughing for real. "How's _that _for inexperienced, Fury?" I yelled at the sky.

"You're wearing an earpiece, Agent Henna," Fury's voice said in my ear. "I can hear every word you're saying."

"Still, I though it would be more dramatic," I said.

I looked down at Loki, who was struggling to get up. He managed to get one of his arms free, but I shot the knife deeper into the ground, sticking him again.

"Where are they?" I muttered, looking around the sky. I pressed the speak button on my earpiece. "Agent Romanoff. Barton. Where the Hell are you?!"

"Sorry, Henna," Nat said in my ear. "We can't land; we don't want to disturb the village."

"Then get your asses down here rather than the plane!"

"On it," Stark said.

"Crap," I muttered.

Sure enough, Iron Man landed beside me.

"Ah, the _Avengers_," Loki spat. "That's who this _wretch _works for."

"With," I corrected. "I work _with _the Avengers."

Tony glared at me for stealing his line. Well, as much as someone wearing a metal suit can. Then he turned back to Loki. "Come on, Reindeer Games." I pulled the knives away and Stark swung Loki over his shoulder. I followed him as he flew away, riding my hoverboard.

"And I suppose you're new," Loki said to me as we flew back to the helicarrier.

"No, just temporary," I grumbled.

The Avengers, plus me, are gathered around a screen, watching as Fury slams the door to Loki's cell. It's much more durable that last year, Banner told us. Loki even touches the walls, alarms blare.

"Henna."

My head flicks up. "Yeah, Fury?"

My heart is thumping a million miles a minute as Fury leads me down the hall into an empty room. "This is about last night."

"Uh huh."

"You've gotten better."

I smile faintly. "No dip," I said.

"How?"

"Last year," I said, like it explained everything.

"And how does that fit in to all of this?"

I took a deep breath. "Last year, when Loki and the Chituari attacked New York City, the Avengers weren't on border patrol."

"I am aware of that," Fury said coldly. "They took out the army as soon as they entered to portal."

I shook my head. "Not all of the army. Some Chituari were trying to escape into the rest of the world, so I got together with a couple of other SHIELD rejects and made up the border patrol _your _team oh-so-innocently forgot to put up."

Fury ran his finger through his non-existant hair. Then he sighed. "So that's where you practiced," he muttered. Then he sighed again.

I raised an eyebrow. "Isn't there something you'd like to ask me, Fury?"

"Henna Levet, welcome to SHIELD."

I walked into the room and stood, arms folded.

"What were you doing in Norway?" I asked.

Loki chuckled and sat down in his cell. "You could say I was the cheese in the mouse trap."

"You're stinky and no one likes you?" I asked innocently.

He made a face. "Guess again, mortal."

"Hmm... you were trying to lure us there."

"Correct."

"But why?"

He sighed. "Why do you think?"

"To take over our minds."

"You really are ignorant, aren't you?" Loki said, an exasperated expression on his face.

I grinned. "That's what they tell me!"

"My dear, there is only one thing I have to say."

"Spit it out, _prisoner_."

"I am ever so sorry."

"Well, that's your problem, isn't i- wait, what?" Did Loki, SHIELD's arch enemy, just say he was _sorry?!_

"I think I made myself clear," he said. "Henna, I am sorry."

I was frozen with confusion. He had said he was sorry. And the thing that confused me the most?

He wasn't lying.

I could tell.

But I folded my arms and huffed. "Why should I accept your apology? You killed so many people last year, and not to mention what your brother told me about the Destroyer in New Mexico."

His cheeks reddened slightly at the memories. "I know I have made bad choices in the past, but I was young and foolish."

"You were a year younger than you are now."

"Ah..." He looked away. "But you would have done the same, if you had lived a life such as mine."

"And what life would that be, Loki?"

"Living as the unloved child, in the shadow of your sibling."

My blood ran cold.

"I grew up alongside Thor. We played together, fought together, learned together. We both knew we had an equal chance of being king. Yet as we grew older, I found that Father began looking at him as more of a ruler, giving him the lessons necessary. Without me. Everyone loved him so much more. His mind was full of power, so he got his friends and I to go seek revenge on the Frost Giants. I knew we would need assistance, so I called the All Father. When he found out, he banished my brother to Earth. Then my father fell ill, so I assumed to position of King."

He paused to take a breath, then looked at me to see how I was taking this all in. I was sitting in a chair across from him, and we were only seprated by the glass (and about four feet of floor). I was leaning foreward in actual interest, then quickly adjusted myself. "Go on," I said, unable to put poison into my tone.

"My friends came to me, asking me to undo my brother's banishment," Loki continued. "But I could not do that, for my first command could not be to undo my father's last. They grew angry and left to go get him themselves. But since that was against my command, I sent the robot, the Destroyer, to bring them home."

"But it went crazy and blew everything up," I summed up sarcastically.

"Yes," he said in wonder. "How did you know?"

"Women's intuition," I muttered.

"I did not know it would decimate the entire town-"

"It's called the Destroyer," I pointed out.

"It was not called that on Asgard!" He quickly composed himself. "I did not know it would decimate the entire town, but apparantly it was made to kill intruders, not capture them. I made a mistake, and paid for it dearly. When Thor returned, he was furious with me and battled me on the Bifrost. He decided to destroy it so I could not bother Earth again-"

"Obviously _that _didn't work-"

"-But it created a void, which I fell into. I landed on a barren moon, of which I had no knowledge of. A Chituari -the leader, actually- found me. He was known only as the Other. He promised me I would be accepted back onto Asgard and he would return me to there if I gave him the Tesseract. When things got out of hand, when I realized who I had hurt, I transported back to the moon where I met up with him. He threatened me and when I still refused to do his bidding, he manipulated me. Took over my mind. After your team won, and I returned to Asgard with my brother and was sentenced to punishment and eternal imprisonment. I escaped to come say I was sorry for everything, in hope you would forgive me. Do you?"

I looked down, fixing my eyes on my boots. "I... don't know." I laughed lightly. "If you actually knew me, I'd say you were manipulating me."

"And why is that, Agent Levet?"

"Henna. And..." I took a breath. What was I doing?! Was I really about to tell my life story to this biotch?! "When I was born, I had a disorder. Brain damage." I guess I was. "The doctors predicted that I'd never be able to talk. One thing they didn't know was my parent weren't really office workers. They were scientists.

"My mom designed the chip, something the size of a finger nail to make me smarter and fix my disorder. My dad preformed the surgery that put it into my brain. However, he accidentaly put it on my pineal gland, the part of your brain that's said to control your 'sixth sense' but is too small to really do that. The chip, however, while fixing my disoder, also caused the brain tissue around it to swell. It gave me some psychic abilities. It gave me the power to control pretty much any metal. I can tell when people are lying, and read the minds of my enemies. Only my enemies, so you'd better watch out." I grinned.

Then I sighed. "The chip wasn't the only reason I hated my parents, though. They never knew about my abilities. Instead, because I had _had _a disorder, they treated me like I still did. I would do whatever they said, but still not get praised. They hated me. To replace me, they had another daughter when I was six. My sister, Amanda." I closed my eyes. "Amanda was perfect. No disorder. She was artistic since the age of four. My parents loved her. I was smarter than she was, and often got better grades than her. Yet the simplest mistake from me, and no dinner for a week. Amanda does something wrong? She gets a kiss and a 'try better next time, okay love?'. Yet I didn't hate Amanda the way my parents hated me. No one could hate Amanda. She was the sweetest girl in the world, and tried to do worse to make me feel better. To try to make mom and dad notice _me _instead of _her_. But it didn't work.

"When I graduated college, I moved to New York with my best friend, Sarah Martin." I snorted. "Best decision I ever made. I got a job in Stark Tower and that's the end of it."

I looked back up at Loki. "So what do you think?" I asked.

He blinked and stood. "Come here, Henna."

I walked over to his cell. "Yeah?"

He put his hands on the glass. "You and me, we're the same in a couple of ways," he whispered.

I shivered.

"So you're the right person to believe me when I say this." He took a breath. "I want to join your little group."

I felt the color drain from my face. "The Avengers?" I choked out, my throat constricting.

"If they will except me," he said softly, "then yes, I do."

**What do you think? I know this chapter was a little longer, but I had to get Henna's full backstory in. Don't count on them all being this long, though, nor my updates as fast as they've been. Please review with advice and compliments if you've got any! I love you all! 3**


	4. The LOK-In

I was tripping over myself, trying to get the Hell out of that room. Fury had sent me to interrogate Loki, not have a complete confessional with him.

I was in deep shit now.

"Agent Henna," Fury stopped me. "You're earpiece is off. Why?"

I stopped. "I thought Loki would trust me more if he didn't think I was spying," I lied. Truthfully, I was just sick of hearing Fury's voice over and over.

"I have news," he said gravely. "About your sister."

My blood ran cold. "Amanda?"

He nodded. "She's dead. A drive by shooter went by your house and she was in the yard. I'm sorry."

I had nothing to say. This had to be a dream. Yes! That was right. I mean, Loki could never really want to apologize, right? And Amanda couln't really be dead. I pinched myself to be sure.

It hurt.

Shit.

Because Fury wasn't lying.

"No," I whispered. "No!"

I felt the tears before they came. The familiar pang between my eyes that told me I was going to cry. I spun on my heels and raced through the halls, ignoring the shouting and yelling behind me. I don't think I've ever run faster in my life.

Then someone stopped me. I didn't know who, but I collapsed in their arms into a fit of sobs.

"What's wrong?" They asked me, their voice muffled by the ringing in my ears.

"Amanda," I managed.

The person held me out at arms length. Through my blurred vision I could see Natasha's red hair. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"She's dead," I choked. Then I froze and rubbed my eyes. Then I blinked at Agent Romanoff. "...Right?"

Nat frowned. "Not that I know of," she said.

I immediately pressed the speak button on my earpiece. "Fury," I said. "Is Amanda _really _dead?"

Silence. Then, "no, Henna, she is not. Please come see me in my office."

I glared and Fury over his desk. "What kind of sick idea was this?!" I demanded, hands on my hips. "Making me believe my sister was dead when she wasn't? And then somehow making my powers deactivate? You'd better have a good explanation, Mister."

Fury folded his hands. "We were testing you. To show you that you can't always rely on your abilities in a pinch, that you need to trust the people around you."

"But they weren't in on it," I pointed out.

"Agent Hill was. She was the one to give you the serum that put your powers on hold, she slipped it into your water. We didn't tell the others, so they could help you figure out if I was lying or not."

"But how was I supposed to know my powers were on hold?" I pointed out.

Fury thought for a minute. "Good point. In truth, it wasn't a very thought-out plan. But now you need to think: has anyone else told you something you didn't want to believe but nothing came up to tell you they were lying?"

My blood ran cold and I blinked. Only one person had.

Loki.

His entire apology could be a lie. His life story, his... _sympathy _for what I had gone through... all just him trying to manipulate me. He actually managed to make me feel _sorry _for him!

Damn it.

"Only... Loki," I said quietly.

"Shit," said Fury... furiously. "Go. See him now. The serum should have worn off by now."

I raised my hand and a letter opener on Fury's desk lifted into the air. "Yep, they're back," I muttered. "And now I have to go converse with the criminal again. Crap."

I left Fury's office and went to Loki's cell. He was sitting on a chair in the corner, reading one of Tony's 'Play Boy' magazines. He seemed utterly disgusted at what was in it, so he was way to happy to look up when I walked in.

"Ah, Henna," he said with a disgusting smile. "You are back. Did you think about what I said?"

I opened the door to his cell and was in there as quick as lightning, my hands gripping his throat. "What the Hell is wrong with you?!" I demanded, loving the way he struggled in my grasp.

"What do you mean?" He asked with a frown.

I tightened my grip, and he winced. "Toying with my emotions like they're some sort of play thing? Do you have any idea that I actually felt _sorry _for you?!"

"I- I do not understand," he choked.

"You obviously knew about the serum Fury used on me, thoguh I don't even know how! You disgust me, you know that?" I squeezed his throat so hard I though his head would pop off, which would have been oh so beautiful. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"Henna... The door..."

Sure enough, there was a sliding sound and then the click of a lock. I dropped Loki fast and spun around.

The door to the cell was locked.

I was trapped in a cell.

With Loki the war prisoner.

"Can you not open it?" Loki asked, standing up and rubbing his neck.

I glared at him. "What do you think?" I asked. "When I opened your cell the first time, I used the one and only key we had. The one Fury lets my clip to my Belt because I'm the one who's supposed to interrogate you. So now I have it in here with me so no one else can use it. I can't communicate with Fury because I always take out my earpiece before I come in here. I made Fury lock down the cameras so you would have your privacy. I never expected to-" I sighed and sank to my knees.

"Well this is all your fault," Loki said with a small grin. "For once I cannot be blamed for something bad that has happened!"

I deepened my glare. "It's not my fault you're stupid."

He frowned. "What did I do that was... stupid?"

I laughed. "Nothing, I was just making a statement."

"You are _revolting_," Loki said, curling his lip.

"I try." All of a sudden, a though came to me. "Loki, I'm the one who's supposed to bring food to you. We could starve."

"Will people not notice you are missing?" He asked.

"True, I am _very _likeable," I said thoughtfully.

"Liar," Loki said with a small smile.

I kicked him in the gut.

He shut up.

**So what do you think? I know people are saying that Henna just has her phone, but do you really think she'll have service in a glass jail cell? R&R PLEASE!**

**-KLoveMe**


	5. I Give a Stupid Speech

**I'm ba-ack! (a little habit I picked up from my good friend Cricket!) I hope you guys L-O-V-E this story as much as I do, but wanna show me the love? Review, y'all!**

I sit against one of the four walls in the cell, trying to sleep. I forced Loki to sleep on the otherside, but that unfortunaly meant that I had to look at him all night long.

"Henna," he said softly.

"What?" I grumbled, slamming my face into a pillow.

"What do I have to do to get you to believe what I said earlier?"

"Nothing."

He sighed. "Are you positive? I am truly sorry."

I snorted. "_That _part I believe. You should be sorry. But it's that part about wanting to join us I seriously doubt."

"But it is true, Henna."

There. The familiar green light going off in my mind telling me that that's true. But I pushed it aside. "Why should I believe you?"

He was silent for one heavenly minute, so I tried yet again to allow sleep to take over. But then he spoke again. "I realize you can tell whether or not I am lying, Henna. I know that you can tell that I am not. I also know that you can read the minds of your enemies. Tell me, Henna, can you get into mine?"

I tried to make myself hate him more than I ever had. Force myself to make him my enemy. But I could not read his thoughts, no matter how hard I tried. Was it possible? Had Loki really turned good?

"No," I said softly. "I can't, Loki."

"Then will you help me gain the trust of the Avengers?"

I hesitated. "I- I'll try, but no promises, okay?"

He nodded. "That's all I can ask. Goodnight."

"'Night."

Had I really just made a deal with the god of mischief and lies?

Classic me.

The next morning I realized I had my phone. I yanked it out of my pocket like it was my life line and turned it on and-

No bars.

Shit.

"How long until they realize you are gone?" Loki asked from behind me.

"No freaking clue," I muttered, shoving my phone back in my pocket. I'd have to get Tony to fix it later, so that it would get unlimited battery.

Turns out it didn't take long. Natasha opened the door into the room with a bowl of cereal, and when she saw me pounding on the door it clattered to the floor.

"Henna! How'd you get in there?!" She cried.

"Long story," I said. "Do you think you can get Fury to open the door?"

She nodded and spoke some words into her earpiece. Soon the door slid open and I bolted out. Then I took out my key and closed the door again.

Natasha left then, some problem with Clint's arrows (Stark, no doubt). I turned to face Loki.

"You are locking me back in?" He asked with a small frown.

I took a breath. "Just for now. Just until I... figure out what's going on with me, and how I'm going to get SHIELD and everybody else to trust you so I don't get my sorry ass kicked off the team."

"Alright. Just hurry, Henna."

"I'll try."

I walked through the halls of the helicarrier, my boots clicking on the floor. I was an idiot. I was mental. I was going to release Loki.

I made my way to his cell room, my plan mapped out in my head: I'd let him go, then see what people did. Protect him if they tried to kill him.

Okay, my plan was so damn stupid I didn't even know why I was doing it.

I opened the door.

"Henna!" Loki said eagerly. "Am I being allowed in?"

"I don't know," I said with a mock grin. "But I have a retarded plan wanna hear it?"

His face fell slightly. "Sure."

I told him, and he grinned. "Oh, that sounds _fun_," he said. "So what are you waiting for? Let me out."

So that brings us to the part you read at the very beginning of this story, where I was about to let him out.

My hand hovered for a few seconds over the release button. I lowered it, and then-

Clint burst in. "Henna!" He said urgently. "Banner and Stark need you in the lab. It's important, and your earpiece is off again."

"Damn," I muttered. I shot a glance at Loki, who nodded at me to go. "Fine," I grumbled, turning on my heels to walk out the door. Then I paused.

"They think they've figured something out," Clint said. "About Loki's plot. We need to go."

I turned around again, to face him, and quickly flicked on my earpiece. "Are you guys really sure he even _has _a plot?" I asked Clint, hopin the others would hear. "I mean, think about it. Do you really think he came up with this idea, to be evil, on his own? And even if he did, think about it. There's a reason for everything. It's not like he's been evil since birth, and his brother would be happy to prove that. Something must have happened between then and now to fuel what he did. How shallow are you people that you won't even see if the reason a person has for being evil is a good enough one? I mean, you should at least check. I'm not saying that he does have a good reason, but if he did, we should give him credit. And what really defines 'evil' anyway? Maybe what we're doing is evil and we just don't know it. Stark, Banner, you two are supposed to be smart. Ponder this. Thanks for listening. Bye." I released the button on my earpiece, spun on my heels, and walked right out the door.

I lay on my bed, string at the ceiling. What had possessed me to say that? Had Loki finally gotten to me?

Shit. I was freaking smitten.

No, I couldn't be. And yet...

No. I shoved the though aside and tried to think of something else. Anything else. Oh, there was what Barton had said. About Bruce and Tony thinking they figured out Loki's plot. What, exactly, had they figured out?

I remember Loki telling me something, about someone called the Other. He had said that the Other would do worse that kill him if he failed. Was destroying Earth worse that killing him?

It was, if everything he loved was on it.

Damn.

This wasn't Loki's doing, whatever Stark and Banner had found. It was the leader of the Chituari.

The Other.

I opened the door to my room slowly, then cursed myself for being embarrassed for my outburst. I shouldn't be, it was a _beautiful _speech. I think.

"_Miss _Levet."

That sarcastic tone... "Stark," I acknowledged.

"Turn around. Look at me."

I did as he said, and clenched my fists as he walked around me, studying me. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't seem like the kind of girl to give such a speech as you did." He stopped in front of me. "Tell me, what caused you to do so?"

I bit my lip. Then it hit me. "My office."

"Your- what?"

"My office, in _your _tower. On my computer, my screensaver is a bunch of famous sayings," I lied. Because of my ability to identify other people's lies, I can lie my ass off and almost never get caught.

"So?"

"One of the sayings is, 'There's a reason for everything, and don't judge other people until you know theirs'."

He frowned slightly. "Okay, I suppose that's a reasonable explanation, but-"

I groaned. "Stark?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

He opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it. "You, Henna, are walking on thin ice."

I smirked. "I'll take my chances."

He left, explaining to the others what I had said over his earpiece. I sighed with relief and headed to lunch in the cafeteria.

I was the only one in there, seeing how it was exactly noon. Though soon I was joined by Natasha.

She set her tray down across from me and sat. "You," she said, "you got gut, saying what you did because of a saying. Fury's ticked."

I smiled. "When is he not?"

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter of SOP! Please, please, pretty pretty please, review fo li'l ol' me? (' . ')**


	6. My Feelings Get the Best of Me

**Sup. There's finally some fluff in the chapter! REVIEW... OR ELSE! BWAHAHA! Oh, and some of u may have noticed I'm writing another story. It's a crossover of a whole lot of awesome stuff, and it's called THE CHAOTIC COLLIDE OF ALTERNATE UNIVERSES! The Avengers (plus me & Henna & Cricket) are in it as well! Go read it peeps!**

I have been waiting a week. A whole damn week. A whole damn week just to go see SHIELD's arch enemy.

Something is seriously wrong with me.

Today is the first day out of my suspension. I quickly grabbed the food tray from the cook and speed-walked down to his cell.

"Hey," I said, closing the door behind me.

"Henna!" Loki stood up quickly. "Where have you been? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just fine." I slipped the tray through the mini door of his cell. "I was just grounded."

He sipped his water. "For your statement? I hardly think that was... _grounding _material."

I cracked a smile. "Of course _you _would say that," I laughed.

He smirked. "And what is wrong with me saying that?" He asked.

I didn't say anything.

"Henna?"

"I should go," I said, and turned to leave.

I felt my cheeks redden that night when I replayed our encounted in my head. Why hadn't I said anything?! Damn! Had I really waited a whole week just to say two statements?

I got up, shiveing lightly in my dark blue and black silk nightgown. Then I pulled the fluffy green and purple blanket of the bed and wrapped it around my shoulders. Then I walked over to my desk and began working on some equations. Working on engineering always calmed me down.

Then someone knocked on my door.

It was Agent Romanoff.

She stood behind me and watched me solve the first equation. "Um, Henna? I know I'm not an expert on algebra and long division and mathematical crap, but I'm pretty sure you carry the four."

"Shit," I hissed, and crumpled up the paper. Then I threw it in the trash. "Sorry, Nat, my mind is elsewhere today."

"And where would that be?"

I sighed. "I have no freaking clue."

She crouched down so that she was level with me in my chair. "Henna," she said softly. "I'm an agent. I'm a spy. I'm an assassin. I'm pretty sure I can keep a secret, no sweat. Tell me what's up."

I sighed again and closed my eyes. "My powers are being bitchy," I muttered.

She laughed. "And what makes you think that?" She asked with a grin.

"They tell me he's not lying."

Her smile faded when she realized who the subject of that sentence was. "What do you mean?"

"He tells me he's sorry, Nat. He says that he wants to freaking _join _us. Why isn't he lying? It would be so much easier if he was."

She put her hand on my shoulder. Then she took a breath as if she couldn't believe what she was about to say. "People... people change, Henna. I did. I... was born with special abilities. I was born with the nature of an assassin, the skills of an assassin. I didn't care who I used them for or on. Then Clint was sent by SHIELD to kill me, but chose not to. At first I thought I just owed him a debt, but now I realize that he changed me."

I blinked. "So you're saying I changed Loki? Impossible, I only knew him for ten minutes before he told me those things."

Natasha shrugged. "It's possible," she said, then stood. "Goodnight, Henna." Then I was left alone.

"Bruce," I said to him the next morning.

"Yes?" He looked up at me from his computer.

"What did you and Stark find that you thought might have had to do with Loki's plot?"

He smiled softly and stood. "Well, we tracked the Tesseract's Gamma radiation signal. It's on Earth, but still in the area where Loki was found. In the ocean. It appears he only used it to get here, so we believe that he is doing something else than last year."

I snorted. "Is that it? God, Banner, I thought you and Stark were smart."

He frowned. "We are," he said.

"Well, think about it."

He stopped for a moment. "That does sound weird," Dr. Banner admitted. "But it's all we've got."

I nodded. "Okay." I studied the readings. "Um, Bruce?"

"Yeah?"

"These are _different _readings than last year." I brought the two screens up to compare. "The radiation level last year was higher. Loki didn't come via the Tesseract."

"Then how'd he get here?"

I pressed my earpiece. "Thor," I said, "report to the lab."

He came. "Yes, Lady Levet?"

"Henna's fine. Listen, you said that on the morning Loki was gone, the Tesseract was too, right?"

He frowned. "Yes."

"If Loki didn't use the Tesseract to get here, how else could he have?"

"Well, the Bifrost, I suppose, though it was just recently repaired and hasn't been tested yet. Why?"

"Because that's how he got here. Someone else has the Tesseract, and I think i know who."

Bruce frowned. "Who?"

I looked at him. "The Other. And the Chituari."

I bolted into Loki's room after I recieved the tray of his lunch.

"Hello, Henna," he said, recieving the food. "You seem frazzled."

"Oh, I am. Did you know that the Other and the Chituari have the Tesseract?" I asked, sitting in the chair across from his cell.

He smiled. "Yes I did."

"Wait- what?!" Did he just say he _did_?!

"I said," Loki repeated, "I did know they had the Tesseract. I didn't only come to apologize, Henna, I came with a warning."

I exploded. "You could have told me that!" I snapped.

"I was waiting until I gained your trust."

I quieted down and walked up to his cell. "You have my trust," I whispered, not believing what I was doing. "And you've had it for a while."

I put one of my hands on the glass.

He did the same, so it met mine.

"I'm going to get you out of here," I said softly. "And then we'll stop them."

"Thank you," he whispered, and his green eyes met mine. "Thank you, Henna."

"-so that's why you need to help me," I concluded to Natasha Romanoff later that night.

"Because he wants to help us?"

"_And _because he knows more about the Other than any of us," I added. "Please, Tasha."

Natasha sighed. Then she ran her fingers through her short red hair, looking frustrated when she came to the end. "Fine. But if this blows up in your face, remember that I warned you."

I grinned. "I will. Thanks, Nat." I hugged her.

She smiled. "'Welcome. Now, we just need a plan."

I smirked. "I've already got one."

"Agent Henna! We have a security breach!"

I hid my smile as Fury's voice filled my ear. "On it," I said. "Where?"

"It's Loki. He escaped. Don't hestitate to maim."

I bit my lip at that. "Got it, Fury. Romanoff, cover me."

She knew the signal. Soon she was at my side. "_This _was your plan?!" She demanded. "Henna, this is mad."

"I know. But necassary as well. Come on, he should be in his room." We raced there, to find Loki backed up against a wall and Clint Barton aiming an arrow at his eye socket.

I held out a hand to stop Natasha from going forward and approached him. "Clint," I said.

He turned his head but still held up his bow. "Henna, do you know how he escaped?"

I shook my head. "No. Look out, though."

He furrowed his brow. "For what?"

I grinned. "_This_." I cut his bow string and grabbed the end of his bow. I tore out his earpiece, threw it on the ground, and hit him in the forehead with his own bow.

Clint collapsed at my feet.

"Um, Henna, I do not wish for you to ge kicked out of your agency," Loki said, looking down at Barton's unconcious body.

I shrugged. "I really don't care if I do. Come on, we need to go. Natasha, follow. Don't worry, Loki, she's on our side." We ran out the door and through the halls. We needed to get to the lab, stat, so Loki could help us. We had just reached the door, with no one around, and then we heard a voice.

"Henna. Back away from the prisoner."

The voice was shaky, as if it regretted what it was doing. Slowly I turned to see Steve Rogers aiming a gun at me with trembling hands.

"Don't make me shoot," he whispered.

"Steve," I said slowly, "just hear me out. Please."

"I can't, Henna," he said. "Please, just back away."

I looked into his blue eyes. "Steve, listen to me," I begged. "Loki can help us, I-"

There was a slamming sound as Natasha gave him a roundhouse kick to his side. He crashed to the floor.

"Nat!" I screamed.

"His finger moved towards the trigger. It's my doing that you're still alive. He'll live too, just with a headache." She nodded towards the door, panting. "There. Open it."

I nodded at her and did what she said. We jumped inside and Nat slammed the door and engaged all 87 locks. Finally I turned on my earpiece.

"Henna, you're fired," was the first thing I heard.

"Just hear me out, Fury, okay?" I said.

He was silent for a moment. "Fine. _Then _you're fired."

I sighed. "Nat, help me out," I whispered. She nodded. I pressed the button on my earpiece. "You all know of my powers, yes? Moving knives, and pens and pencils, with my mind? Reading the minds of my enemies? The ability to tell lies from truth? They are the reason you assigned me the position of Loki's interrogator, correct?"

Natasha nodded.

I continued. "Well, I did my job, and everything he said was true. He said he was manipulated into doing all those things, and my guess is it was the Other."

Tony's voice filled my ear. "the other what?"

"His name is the Other. He's the leader of the Chituari."

There was silence on the other end of the line. Then Fury finally broke the silence. "Okay, so it wasn't Loki's fault. So what? How do you know he's still not under the Other's influence?"

"I can't read his mind."

The silence that followed was longer than the previous one. "So what? He wants to apologize?" It was Stark.

"Yes, actually," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"And then what?" Banner. "I suppose now he just expects us to drop him off back at his planet?"

"No, he wants to..." I trailed off and looked at Natasha for help.

"He wants to join SHIELD," she said. "He wants to join the Avengers."

I expected another silence. instead I got about a million protests. The pounding at the lab door didn't help. Apparantly Steve was awake.

"HEY!" I screamed. "Fury. Speak."

He took a breath. "Absolutely not," he said. "Not unless Loki can prove he's on our side."

"Well, he might get a chance to," I said, looking back at the readings on the screens. "I think the Other has the Tesseract." I explained to them what I had figured out.

"Damn," Steve said, stoping his pounding. "War again, huh? I guess we have something to look forward to once a year."

"So your saying that if a _criminal _helps us in a war, he can join us?" Agent Maria Hill said in disbelief. "Sir, I don't think that's a good idea. What if something goes wrong?"

"Which is exactly why Loki will be staying in his cell until the invasion." Fury responded. "Henna, lock him up."

"Yes, sir," I said. "C'mon, you."

Loki frowned at me. "You are going to willingly lock me up again?"

"Just until the invasion." I flashed him a smile. "Then you'll be on our side, right?"

Loki smiled, but it wavered. "Yes," he said quietly.

The next day, a couple of people were still looking at my uncertainly. I mean, I _had _knocked out Hawkeye and convinced Nat to kick Captain America. And then I had proceeded to take the sie of our prisoner.

Stark had said I was waling on thin ice with my speech.

That ice had just cracked, yet somehow I had managed to keep my footing.

I went on my usual trip to bring Loki his only allowed meal, lunch.

"Hey," I mumbled, sliding it through the slot.

"You seem like your mind is somewhere else today," he said.

"It is. It's on a frozen pond," I said, opening the door to his cell and joining him in there. Then I opened my laptop. "Oh, and Stark wants me to get you to help me make a file on the Other."

Loki sighed as he took a bite of his roll. "Well, he was the leader of the Chituari," he said.

I laughed. "I get that. Anything else?"

"He seemed to work of someone else, someone of higher standards."

"We'll call him the Higher for now," I said, typing that in.

"His name was Thanos."

My blood ran cold at the name. "How do you know that?" I whispered.

"I heard the Other mention his name once before. He said Thanos instead of Him or He, like he usually did. Then he jerked like he had been stung. He never said his name again."

I added this information in. "Is that it?"

Loki thought a moment. "The Other's skin was so cold, like a Frost Giant's, only it stung rather than froze. That is all I know. I am sorry if that is not a lot."

"No, it's plenty. If only we know how to find-" I sucked in a breath. "The Bubble Telescope!"

He frowned. "I thought it was the _Hubble _Telescope," he said.

"No, it is, but there's another one. One I made, called the Bubble. I used Lightspeed to send it out of our galaxy to explore deep space, but I lost it."

That got him. "You... you _lost _a giant piece of metal?!" He asked in disbelief.

"Hey, I was tracking it, but then Stark did something stupid and the power went out and I lost it. But maybe if..." I typed something into my program. "There! I found the satellite!"

"If it is that easy, then why did you not do that before?"

I shrugged. "I can be _pretty _lazy," I admitted. "Okay, so... how are we going to find him?"

"I... do not know, Henna."

Then a voice was heard from my computer.

"You have failed me."

"Is that the Other?" I whispered.

Loki shook his head. "If anything, it is Thanos."

"You have failed me."

The alien creature kneeling before him was trembling. "I know," he said. "But the humans and unruly, and therefore cannot be ruled. To challenge them is to court death."

The creatue in the throne facing away from the other stood. "That is something we must risk, for if the humans think beating us will put an end to our war then they are mistaken. It only makes their race more appealing." He turned around, revealing a red face and cold, silver-blue eyes. He grinned.

The Other lowered his masked head further. "Master, who will lead the next army?"

Thanos heald up a cube, alive with blue energy. "I will," he said. "But this army shall not only be of your Chituari."

"Master?"

"You have lost once before, with only those pathetic creatures to fight for you."

"I- yes."

Thanos stood behind him, and the Other fliched when he touched his back with a single finger. White energy spread around him, until the Other was completely covered in it.

"_You_ will fight for me," Thanos hissed in his ear. "_You _are my army. Fight well, for if you lose it will not be I who ends you." He laughed maniacally and twirled the Tesseract in his hand. "This cube. So full of amazing power. The foolish humans do not know of it's _true _power, unlike I. I, the maker of the Tesseract."

The Other stood. "I will fight for you," he said in a blood curdling voice. "And only for you."

Thanos grinned. "Perfect," he hissed.

I slammed my laptop shut.

"Henna?" Loki asked hesitantly.

I stood. "I need to go talk with Fury. This is important."

"Alright. And Henna?"

"Yes?"

He hesitated. "Thanks for helping me, with all of this."

I smiled. "'Welcome. But I need to go now. I'll come back later, if I can."

"Okay."

I closed the door to the cell and the left the room, searching for Fury. "Fury!" I screamed over and over.

"Look, Henna," said Bruce, walking up to me. "I get that you're mad, but please, just shut up."

I made a face. "Do you know where Fury is or not?" I asked.

He nodded. "With Hill on the main deck."

I went there. "Fury, I found him."

"Who?"

"The Other. And Thanos."

I showed him the footage from the Bubble Telescope.

"Start the team training. We don't know when or where they'll attack, but we need to be ready." Fury said, looking around.

I repeated that into my earpiece, then headed to the training room.

About a week and a half later, I sit in Loki's cell. This had become a daily thing for me now.

"Have you found anything else?" He asked, sitting next to me.

I shook my head. "Not since last week."

"Hm." He looked over my shoulder at the computer screen. "You are not even searching for Thanos! You are playing..." he studied the game label "...Angry Birds!"

I shrugged. "Those pigs are _pretty _bitchy. They stole those birdies eggs!"

Loki rolled his eyes. "There is a war approaching us and all you can think about is birds that have anger management issues?"

He said that so seriously I immediately started laughing.

"That was not supposed to be funny!"

"But it was," I said, wiping my eyes. "That was hilarious!"

"I do not get it."

"That's why it is," I said. "But that's not all I've been thinking about. Fury's forcing us to train 24/7, and the only breaks I get are when I'm here."

He cracked a smile. "So I'm just an excuse for you to get out of work?"

I shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah."

Now he was laughing.

"So now _I'm _funny?"

"Yes, very."

I grinned. "Well, ha ha. If you want me to train so bad, I guess I'll go." I closed my laptop and acted like I was going to leave. "Goodbye! Yessir, Henna Levet is leaving! Bye-bye!"

"Good ridance," Loki said.

I put a hand to my earpiece and closed the door to Loki's cell. "Fury, torch the prisoner."

"Wait- what?! Henna!"

I laughed and moved my hand away. Then I reopened the door and walked back in. "I was kidding, Genius," I said.

He scowled. "I was wrong. You truly are not funny."

"Maybe you don't understand my humor."

"Maybe I do not."

He leaned down, so his face was level with mine. "Henna," he whispered.

"Yes?" I whispered back.

"You know what's the funniest thing of all?"

"What?" I asked softly.

Then Loki pressed his lips to mine.

The entire world instantly felt out of balance. I felt dizzy and confused and worst of all, happy. Before I knew what was going on, I was leaning in.

He pulled away seconds later, grinning widly.

I felt my face redden. "I- I don't see how that was funny," I said, flustered.

He smirked. "It wasn't supposed to be."

I stood. "Well, I think that's all the time I have fore tonight. I'm gonna go train now bye." I quickly left the cell, closed the door, and headed to the training room.


	7. My Life Becomes a Gay Disney Sitcom

The knives flew across the room, sticking into the target with amazing accuracy. I was ticked. No, I was more than ticked.

I was freaking _pissed_.

I had just... _kissed _Loki.

Oh, god.

I threw the knives at the target again, then I pulled them out and shot the target with my pistol until it exploded.

"Henna, what did the target ever do to you?" Steve asked, coming up to me.

"It mocks me," I muttered.

"And how does it do that, exactly?"

"It doesn't have a care in the world, while I have all of them."

He sighed and sat down on the bench. Steve patted the seat next to him, which I reluctantly took. "What's wrong, Henna?"

"The world."

"Really. Tell me."

I sighed. "Remember how I said that all things happen for a reason, and don't judge things until you know theirs?"

"Um, yeah. It was that saying that caused Natasha to knock me out."

"Sorry about that."

"Yeah."

"Well, anyway. I think I've been focusing too much on that statement recently."

"How so?" Steve asked, sipping from his water bottle.

"You don't want to know."

"You're right, I probably don't."

We were silent for a minute, neither one of us wanting to speak. Eventually I grew bored and began stabbing a dummy with my knives.

"Are you feeling extra violent today, Henna?" He asked me with a small smile.

"Sí," I muttered, slicing off the dummy's head manually.

"Um, Fury's gonna get you for that," Steve said, though I wasn't really listening.

"I need to go," I muttered, walking out of the gym.

I find myself in the cafeteria, where I heaped a bowl with warm potato and cheese soup and then sit down, biting into bread and sipping my highly caffinated tea.

"But if the Other's wrath we are facing is because of Loki, then would it not be simpler to give him up rather than draw the enemy here?" Thor questioned as he and Dr. Banner walked in.

Bruce glanced at me. "Um... but isn't your brother, uh, on our side now?"

Thor thought about this. "I suppose he is."

They got their own meals and joined me at my table. "Sup," I said around a bite of roll.

"Not much," Dr. Banner muttered.

"Find anything using the Bubble?"

"Probably could, if you gave me your password."

"Shit," I cursed, as that had slipped my mind. I scribbled it down on a napkin.

"Theskithey?" Thor asked in confusion as he read it, not quite getting the pronounciation.

"The Scythe," I corrected. "Two words, just the damn password box doesn't accept spaces."

He nodded, still not quite understanding.

"Why The Scythe?" Bruce asked.

I shrugged, dragging my spoon around my bowl. "It's what a friend of mine decided to call me last year while we were patrolling the border of NYC, sort of like my superhero name."

"And which friend what that be?" Clint asked, sitting beside me.

"You've probably met him, Clint. His name is Peter." I smirked.

"Parker?"

"That's the one."

"God." He shook his head.

I found myself grinning.

"I'll go type this in now." Banner stood up eagerly.

"Not so fast, smartass," I said. "You've taken one bite. Don't starve yourself."

Bruce smiled and sat back down.

We all finished eating and then I met Stark in the lab. "Anything yet?" I asked, pulling myself up so I was sitting on the counter.

Tony scowled at me. "Okay, A, that is a _health hazard_, and two, um, no, not really."

"I think it's A and B or one and two."

"What?"

"You said A and then you said two. You don't mix letters and numbers when you do that."

"Well, that's just not the way I roll, is it?" Stark popped some of those Cheez-it Grips into his mouth.

"No, not really." I said with a grin. "But the way I roll is sitting up here on the counter."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Destroy the lab all you want, I couldn't care less."

I dropped an empty glass vile on the floor.

He scowled at me before continuing to type scientific-y stuff up on the screen. "Aha!" He blurted sudenly.

"Aha!" I repeated, startled, and dropping yet another vile on the ground, this time by accident.

"I found it!" He said excitedly.

"What?" I asked, coming over and looking over his shoulder. Then I frowned. "This has nothing to do with the Tesseract, you're checking to see if Asian Garden delivers to aircrafts. Which they don't."

"Check again, Levet," Tony said with a smirk.

I squinted at the words. "They do? WTF?"

"What's going- Henna, how did you beat me here?" Bruce asked in shock.

"Did you know Asian Garden had a private jet?" I asked.

"Um... what?"

The next day at lunch, I dreaded going to see Loki. I mean, things between us were fine, and then he had to go and make everything awkward.

Ugh.

But Fury forced me, so I made may way down to his cell. Hesitantly, I opened the door. Then I slid the tray through the flap and left. Or rather, I tried to. I was halfway out the door when I heard someone speak.

"Leaving so soon?"

I stopped. "No dip." I said, like it was obvious that I was.

"But why? What about looking through the Bubble?"

I turned to face him. "I gave Banner my password, so there's no need."

"And you were just going to leave without even saying hello? Impolite." He smirked.

I felt my cheeks redden, and I adverted my eyes. "I need to go," I said, and hurried out.

Well, screw me. What had I done back there? I was confused. So what do I do? Talk to Agent Romanoff, that's what.

I told her what had happened yesterday in his cell, and she sat down at the end of my bed. "Henna," she began. "Remember what I said, about you changing him? Maybe you did it in more ways than one."

"Pffft, you mean I made him fall in love with me?" I rolled my eyes. "Please, Nat, I'm not _that _amazing."

She shrugged. "You're the one that wanted my help. I'm giving it to you."

"You just told me Loki has a crush on me, which I probably could've figured out on my own. think, Nat, what do I do?"

Natasha sighed. "I really don't know, Henna. I've never really been in a situation like this before."

I raised an eyebrow. "You sure? 'Cause I'm pretty sure Clint has a crush on _you_."

Her cheeks reddened slightly, but returned to normal just as quickly. "Love is for children."

"Tell that to Loki."

The next day I went into Loki's cell with my laptop like usual, pretending two days ago hadn't happened.

"Speaking to me again, are we?" He asked with a smirk as I sat down.

"Maybe," I said with a small smile. I logged in to the Bubble and began searching around.

Loki leaned against the wall across from me.

I switched over to playing Angry Birds.

We didn't speak for a couple of minutes, and I kept my eyes locked on my, as Loki called them, birds with anger issues.

Finally, for once, I was the one to break the silence. "We haven't found anything on Thanos," I said.

"Oh?" Loki said with interest. "Too much focus on the angry birds?"

I laughed. "No, actually, just we lost him."

He made a_ tsk tsk _sound with his mouth. "Shame, Henna. First you loose and entire satellite, and then an entire alien?"

I laugh again, then curse myself for it. I'm too punchy today. "Apparantly, I keep misplacing things. Which wouldn't happen if I was focused, which I can't be because _someone _keeps distracting me." I smirk and go back to my game, ignoring the Bubble.

I am so into my game that I don't even notice him come up and stand behind me and sit down beside me.

"You are playing Angry Birds again," he said simply.

I shrug. "It's fun," I whine.

He makes a small face and clicks open the link for the Bubble's camera, where we have a clear view of Thanos and the Other.

Loki scowls at me.

I wince.

"We will attack in three days," Thanos announces to the Other.

"Yes," the Other agrees. "Three days. But where?"

"Not the same place as last year, for sure," Thanos growls.

"Shit," I mutter. I know New York like the back of my hand.

"Then where, Master?"

"We will decide when the portal opens," declares Thanos, twirling the Tesseract in his fingers.

I exit out of the window and stare at Loki. "Three days," I whisper.

"Three days," he echos. "What is it you Mortals say? 'Holy Shit'?"

I nod. "That works," I mutter.

"Should you tell Director Fury?" He asks.

I roll my eyes. "No, I'm going to keep this _vital information _a secret," I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

He makes a face. "Go now, if you must."

I stand and leave. This time, I use my earpiece. "Fury. Using the Bubble I found out that Thanos is invading in three days."

"Did you get a location?"

"Negative," I mutter, glaring at my computer. "The jackass."

Fury sighed. "Alright. Get everyone ready."

I moved my hand away from my earpiece and just stood in the quiet, empty halls. I was frozen, though from fear or excitment I couldn't tell.

And if it was excitment, why? Last year, I had to watch some of my friends (the other SHIELD rejects) get seriously hurt. Why would I want to have to do that again?

**A/N some of you may have noticed my linebreaks screwing up. So now, for a line break, you will see something like this:**

That night, after slipping into black sweat pants and a black Paramore T-shirt, I looked at myself in the mirror. I had black hair that reached just past my shoulders, which I usually wore in a braid but was down currently. I have green eyes and palish-skin that can get pretty tan in the summer. I didn't see anything attractive in me.

Why did Loki?

I sigh and sit down at the foot of my bed, before flipping on the TV. I channel surf until I stop at Disney XD's Lab Rats. The girl, Brie, was waiting for Mr. Davenport to come for her school's career day, but he wasn't coming.

Then it showed Leo. He was trying to prove to Chase and Adam that Marcus was evil, but they didn't believe him, even though he was right.

Immediately I started crying.

"Goddamned Disney XD! Goddamned Lab Rats! Goddamned Loki! Goddamned this whole goddamned world!" I sob.

Why was I crying? Because Davenport being a no-show reminded me of my parents. They never came to any of my school functions or anything like that. Leo trying to prove Marcus was evil reminded me of me sticking up for Loki, trying to prove he was good but nobody believed me because he had acted evil. Just like Marcus.

Oh, god. I'm Leo and Loki is Marcus, only in my life Marcus also has a crush on Leo.

Since when is my life a gay sitcom?

Since I became an Avenger.

Since I- no, it was insane... was it?

Since I fell for Loki.

**Hey everyone!**

**"Review or go to Hell."**

**On that cheery note from Tony Stark, please do as he says. As of now 702 of you have viewed this, so I should have 702 reviews. Review... or I'll kill off Tony Stark.**

**Cuz believe me, Henna's just waiting for me to give the word... XD**

**XOXO,**

**KGal2000**


	8. A Dummy's Death Gets Me Thinking

I walk into Loki's cell the next morning and sit down. He's still asleep, with his green cape draped over him like a blanket.

I yank it off.

He blinks awake and groans. "Five more minutes," he says.

I roll my eyes. "Men. Even when they're from another planet, they still value sleep."

Loki sat up ad rubbed his eyes. "You're early," he complained.

"Really," I said with a smirk. "I couldn't tell."

I sat on the bench, and he joined me. I opened my laptop and checked my email, then opened one from my friend and roommate, Sarah Martin.

_**To: hennalove **_

_**From: sarahsmark , **_

_**Where the hell are you?! You haven't come back to the apartment and it's been almost a month! I heard your boss got called in for his organization... did you, too? I'm going to assume that you did... if you're hurt, let me know!**_

I sigh.

"Sarah?" Loki asked, looking at me.

"Yeah." I type a response, saying I'm fine and I did get called in. "She's a _tad _paranoid. After all, she _does _live in a world where only the population of New York know the Avengers are _real_, and her best friend is part of them."

"Well, too bad." He says sarcastically.

I grin. "You sound like Sarah."

**X- My linebreaker, Starfy!**

I'm in the training room later that day when Stark joins me.

"Henna, lets have a talk," he said, sitting down on the bench and pats the seat next to him.

"No, Tony, I won't go out with you," I say, putting my hands on my hips.

He makes a face. "I want to talk about Sarah Martin."

"She won't go out with you either."

"She emailed me this morning. That girl's got a mouth on her." He scowled.

He showed me the email.

_**You retarded % #!?)% $! You just go and # !%$& kidnap my roommate?! Damn you, bitch!**_

_**-Sarah Martin**_

I laugh. "Ah, classic Sarah."

He points to the words symboled out (which, in the email, were actually written). "Classic Sarah?"

I nod.

He shakes his head. "Damn. Your friends are worse than you."

I shot a knife into a dummy.

"Okay... maybe not," Tony said, frowning as I repeatedly stabbed it.

**X**

The next day I was on serious edge.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow the Other and Thanos would attack, channeling the power of the Tesseract into deadly weapons.

And we had no freaking clue where.

I'm in the Cafeteria eating a Pop-Tart and orange juice for breakfast when Thor comes in. "Lady Levet," he says, sitting next to me. "Why did you take the side of my brother?"

I am so startled by this question that I nearly spit out the juice I just sipped. "Um... you know, my powers," I say hoarsly, shrugging.

He nods, like he isn't believing a thing I'm saying. "Then why did you assist him?"

"There's a reason for everything-" I begin.

He leans forward. "You and I both know you just made that up," he whispers.

The color rushes to my cheeks, and my mind instantly flashes to that kiss in Loki's cell. "So what is I did?" I say softly. "Would you guys have believed me if I didn't?"

"I would have," he said. "You know that I wish the best for my brother, that I try to steer him in the direction of good."

"But you aren't Fury. Or Clint. Or Stark."

He laughed. "Odin forbid I should be Stark!" He said.

I laughed too. "But still," I pressed. "Sure, you would have believed me, but everyone else would have thought I'd turned. Can you honestly tell me everyone would believe me?"

He was silent before answering, "no, Lady Levet, I can honestly say that I cannot."

I finish the rest of my juice and stand to leave, but Thor stops me.

"Lady Levet," he says, "do you have feelings for my brother?"

I drop the glass the the ground, where it shattered. "No," I snapped, taking another step forward.

He smiled slyly. "Henna, you may think I know nothing of love. But you would be wrong."

"Love is for children," I said, quoting Natasha.

"You are still a child, are you not?"

"Once you turn thirteen, no, you aren't." I shut my eyes, hoping he'd go away.

"Look, I know my brother-"

"Did you know he was planning an alien invasion?" I asked, turning on him.

"No, but I did know it wasn't _him _that planned it."

I folded my arms. "I don't love your brother."

"Good, because Loki's adopted. He is not my _real _brother." He laughed, knowing he had me trapped.

"I don't love _Loki_, either," I said, but inside I felt a little unsure.

**X**

That afternoon I brought lunch to Loki's cell. "Well, tomorrow's your chance," I say, walking in.

"I know," he says, smiling. "I can hardly wait."

I sit next to him. "But it's war," I say quietly.

"That part is not as exciting," Loki admits. "War is... a bloody thing. So many people and creatures, desperate to kill to prove they are right, or to seek revenge."

I look up at him, and our green eyes meet. "That... is probably the best description of war I've ever heard," I say with a small laugh.

"It helps to have fought in many yourself."

"I've fought in _one_," I admit.

"Oh?" He raises an eyebrow. "Explain."

"Last year."

His face falls when he realizes what I mean. "Ah," he says quietly, looking away.

I immediately feel crappy. "Er... I mean, I know it wasn't your-"

"No, I know," he whispers. He looks back at me and forces a smile on his face. "Tell me, what was your part in last year's... incident?"

"Oh... um, well... Fury was an idiot and the Avengers were trying to be all amazing by taking out the Chituari as soon as they entered the portal." I stop to take a breath. "But some Chituari escaped them and tried to make their way into the rest of the world. So I got together with Spider-Man, Tigra, and couple of X-Men and made up New York City's border patrol."

He nods. "That would deem to be important."

I close my eyes, feeling like the worst person in the world. Why had I brought up the events from last year? In front of the sorry person who caused them? "I'm sorry I brought it up," I say softly.

He puts his hand on mine- his touch delicate, as if he is slightly hesitant to see my reaction. "I am actually glad you did," he says, surprising me to the point of flushed cheeks and wide eyes. "I should not be embarrased for my actions. I should only be sorry for them."

We don't speak for several moments, his hand on mine and me unmoving. Then I turned my head so we were staring into each other's eyes...

I stood. "You should get ready," I say, looking away. "Tomorrow we're going to fight. You're going to need to be prepared."

Then I start to leave the room, but I stop at Loki's hand on my shoulder. "Henna," he says softly, and I turn, my cheeks reddening. "Tomorrow... be careful. The Other... and Thanos... they are not the Chituari. They are strong. And armed. And have skills beyond those of the Avengers. If you are hurt, fly away on your board. I do not care if you do not want to give up. I do not want you to die."

He sounds so sincere. So worried.

"I promise," I softly answer.

He nods. "Good." He looks around. "You may go now."

I do, and head to my room, the redness never leaving my face.

Natasha Romanoff had said love was for children.

What the Hell was I feeling, then?

**X**

I am in the lab, sending a strongly worded email to Asian Garden regarding jets, when Tony walks in.

"Henna," he nods, before going over to another screen.

I send my email and nod back at him. "Mr. Stark," I say sarcastically, mocking the way I used to do it before I got called in in this life-altering mission.

"_You_ should be training," he said.

"I was training earlier today. What about you?"

Today, he had fruit snacks, and he popped some in his mouth before saying, "I really don't feel like blowing up the ship, _Miss Levet_."

I shrug and take some of his fruit snacks. "Then flutter around or something."

"I don't _flutter_. I _fly_."

"Well, so do I," I say, like I'm making a point. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?"

"Tomorrow? It's my birthday."

"Really?"

I nod. "April 8, yeah."

He looks a little awkward for a minute -a first for Tony Stark. "Oh. Sorry you might die on that day, then."

I make a face. "Yeah, that's the sucky part," I say.

A message pops up on my screen. I squint at it.

"Uh... Tony," I say. "Pepper sends her love."

He shoves me aside and glares."What did I say about reading my email?!" He demands.

"Um... did you say you loved it?" I asked, shrugging.

He glares.

I sigh. "You never said _anything _about it, buttbrain."

He blinks at me, like I just gave him an idea. "That's a good name, actually. I'll have to figure out some way to use it on Thor. Thank you, Henna, for making this a very productive day for me." He marches out of the room.

I sit down in a chair and let out a sigh. "At least one person's happy," I mutter.

**X**

I sit on a bench in the training room a little later, giving a dummy a death glare.

"Hey." Clint Barton mutters un-enthusiastically as he walks in.

I think I meant to say something, but all that came out was, "Meh."

He lets out a laugh. "'Meh'? Oh, _now _I feel appreciated!" He climbed up a rope and onto a platform. Then he began firing arrows into dummies below.

When one pierced the eye of the dummy I was glaring at, I bolted upright.

"You okay down there, Henna?" Clint calls.

"Fine." I blink again at the newly dead dummy. Had I really been so lost in thought that I hadn't noticed the arrow coming in?

What had I been thinking about that had occupied all of my attention so that I wasn't aware of my surroundings?

Oh, right.

The same thing that had occupied my attention all week.

Our war prisoner.

**X**

Later that evening I stand outside the room containing Loki's cell. My heart is thrudding in my chest. Why the Hell was I here, anyway?!

Oh right. I'm a complete idiot.

I opened the door to see him sitting in the corner of his cell, hugging his knees to his chest.

_Oh God, what is it now?_

He doesn't even notice me enter his cell and sit next to him. So he jumps when I say, "What's up?"

His eyes are wide. "Oh. Just you."

I laugh. "Yep, _just _me. You okay?"

Loki's eyes meet mine, and I see something I never thought I would. Fear. "Honestly? No." He sighs. "The Other will leave all of you alone. He will go after me. He could not care less about the Avengers, though Thanos wants him to dipose of all of us. But I will be the first."

He lets go of his knees and I look at the floor, which, considering we're sitting, isn't very far away. "He won't get you," I say quietly.

"And you know that how?"

"Because..." I swallow the lump in my throat. "You're... you're strong."

He blinks. "But what if I am not, tomorrow?"

I take a shaky breath. I can't deny it anymore, what I feel inside. I should let it out. Marcus never hid his feelings from Leo, right? He always let Leo know that he hated him. But this, what I felt, it wasn't hate. It was the opposite.

"I... listen to me, Loki. I won't let him hurt you." I close my eyes. "Trust me."

"What if _you _are not strong tomorrow, either?"

I open my eyes and lean closer to him. "Then we'll be strong together."

**X**

_Don't question the universe, Henna. If you do it will bite you in the ass. Just let everything run it's course._

_And don't be afraid to run yours._

**X**

When I pull back, my face must register complete shock, because Loki chuckles.

"It seems I am not the only one with feelings," he says softly, and presses his lips to mine again.


	9. I Turn 28 and Get Scared Out of My Wits

I blink awake.

_Oh God._

Then I jump because I'm not in my room.

_NononononononononononoNO!_

I'm still in Loki's cell.

_Goddammit!_

His arm is holding me closer to him.

_Henna you IDIOT!_

"Good morning," Loki murmurs, pulling me closer.

I punch him in the shoulder, which is followed by a slap across his face.

"Ah!" He sits up abruptly, holding a hand to his cheek. "Whatever was that for?!"

"The invasion's today, genius!" I yell. "And thanks to you, I got a terrible sleep!"

"_I _did not think it was that terrible," Loki muttered.

I shoot him a glare and lept to my feet. "We need to get ready! The Other invades today!"

He just nodded. "Yes, but..."

"What?!" I snap.

He sighs. "Nevermind."

I run out of the cell, making sure to leave it open for Loki, and head straight to my room. Once there, I change into SHIELD's black jumpsuit, but when I figure out that this limits motion I slip into black Aeropostal sweatpants and an Avril Lavigne T-shirt, braid my waist-length black hair, and put on a pair of combat boots cuz, well, we're going into _combat_.

Then I went to meet my team.

**X**

"Did they believe it?" Thanos demanded of the Other.

"Yes. Very. They are preparing for battle as we speak."

"Good. They will never have seen this coming." Thanos let out a laugh, and turned to the Bubble Telescope. "Hear that, humans?" He asked. "You were lied to!"

He snapped the Bubble in half with one quick motion.

**X**

Yemen is a really boring place.

It's like a country... but with no social status.

I have the authority to say this because all of SHIELD is required to watch a country using a camera to see if the Other and/or Thanos is there.

It's been four hours.

But at least Loki doesn't have to be in his cell.

I let a out a groan. And then another, so Fury will know how bored I really am. On my fifth groan, he says, "Henna, I understand this is not very exciting, but until this day is up we will be watching the Earth."

"Oh, come on Nicholas!" Tony whines. "It's her _birthday_! At least let her enjoy her last one!"

I frown. "My 'last one'? Are you planning to kill me, Stark?!" I demand.

"No, but the Other sure is!" He starts cracking up.

I roll my eyes and punch him the shoulder really hard.

"OW! Hey!" He glares at me.

I shrug.

Fury sighs. "Fine. Henna may go. Anyone else bored as Hell?"

Everyone raises their hands, and Fury even puts his up after a minute.

But then he sighs. "Look, this is important. I'm sorry, Henna, that it's your birthday, but do you really want the world to end?"

"Yes," I say without hesitation.

He glares at me. "You guys all have to stay here. Is that understood?"

"No," I mutter, but return to Yemen anyway.

**X**

At midnight, Fury dismisses us. Thanos and the Other didn't attack, so now we have no clue when or _if _they even will.

And my birthday's ruined.

I'm required to lead Loki back to his cell, but the walk is silent.

I'm about to close the door when he speaks up. "Henna?"

"Yeah?"

He grins devilishly. "Happy birthday."

He lets go of my hand, which I wasn't even aware he was holding. "Thank you," I say, grinning back. What was it about this man, this evil but sorry man, that made my heart melt so?

I shut the door to his cell and walk away, my heart fluttering but yet my cheeks staying pale. My birthday was miserable, but the beginning of the day after was pretty perfect.

To me, anyway.

I enter my room and flip on the lights.

Sitting on my purple dresser is a single red rose and a note.

I pick up the note and begin to read. It was clearly written hastily, as if the person was in a rush, but still legible:

_Henna,_

_I'm sorry your birthday was so... (a 'you' quote here,) 'jacked up'. I would have made it better, if I could. I do not know how you celebrate birthdays here on Midgard, but on Asgard, we give gifts. Accept this rose as your gift from me._

_Loki_

I find myself smiling. There was no use trying to deny my feelings to myself anymore, because I had already told Loki. For once I don't curse myself for smiling.

I fill a glass with water and place the rose into it. My first birthday present from a guy. I wanted to treasure it.

Oh god. I don't sound like Henna Levet anymore, do I? The girl that would cuss out anyone that dare lay a finger on her, the hard-out rocker that loved blasting out Avril Lavigne and Daughtry and Paramore and -I'll admit it- Taylor Swift. The girl that always would fight for what she wanted stop until she either died or got it. Whatever came first.

But now I was smiling because of a rose. I was risking a nice glass for the life of a rose. My cheeks flushed in the presence of the man that gave me a rose.

"Is this what love's like?" I whisper, running a finger along one of the rose's silk petals. "Wishing you could give up everything for someone you barely know? Is this love?"

_Yes, _a voice inside me says. _This is love. Face it, Henna Levet. You are in love with him. You are in love with a god._

_And you're loving every minute of it. _

_Damn it._

**X**

It's been about two weeks so far, two weeks that I've been twenty eight. And I've loved it.

_Love. There it is again. That word that I can't seem to rid myself of. Love._

The Other and Thanos are late. So either we were lied to, or the Chituari's deffinition of three days is different from ours.

Every day, I bring Loki lunch and hang out in his cell for about an hour or so. Then I train, and do smart-ical stuff with Tony and Bruce, and then I do whatever I want, which is either blasting music through my earbuds or vistiting Loki.

I'm listening to my all-time favorite song, Avril Lavigne's 'Smile', when my phone buzzes. I keep the song playing, though, cuz I love it.

_Love_.

I unlock my phone and check my messages. It's from Tony, which kind of surprises me.

_Hnna get ur ass dwn 2 the lab NW! Bnnr thks he got sumting. _

I respond,

_Damn you Tony Stark! Type it right or not at all!_

But I still 'get my ass' down to the lab 'NW!'.

**X**

"What?" I ask, opening the lab door.

Tony glares at me. "'Damn me'?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

He rolls his eyes. "Nothing. Brucey here thinks he found something of interest. To you, mainly, because everyone else doesn't really give a shit."

"Okay, spill."

"I can't access the Bubble," Banner says. "When I try, I just get a bunch of static. Someone broke it."

"I told him he's crazy, though," Stark said, shaking his head. "I mean, you made a microscopic camera! How could you break it?"

"Um..." I grimaced. "Well, no, see, it's, heh, the size of... em, a Volkswagon's tire?" I shrug.

"_WHAT_?!" Tony demanded, turning on me.

"I'm sorry! Do you know how long it took me to figure out a way to get the Bubble into deep space in the first place? I wasn't gonna waist anymore time making the Bubble itsy-bitsy!"

He groans. "My god_, Miss _Levet, for a scientist you're pretty stupid!"

"You never _paid _me to be smart!" I counter.

"That's because I don't pay you _at all_!" He shouts, and runs his fingers through his hair, clearly irritated with me.

"Well, it appears _I've _ruined your day," I announce. "My work here is done." I curtsey. "Good day, gentleman," I nod at Bruce, "Freakishly metallic baby," I nod at Tony and walk away.

**X**

The door slides open and I sulk in. Fury just gave me a rant about the size of the Bubble, and I was drained from seven straight hours of training.

"Hey," I mumble, sliding down in order to sit on the bench. But it isn't where I think it is, and I collapse to the floor.

"Someone seems tired," says Loki with a voice that tells me he's smirking. I can't see because the lights are off and my eyes are closed.

_Augh, I'm so goddamned tired!_

"Yemm," I mumble.

He laughs. "And that means?"

"It means I'm tired, beeotch."

He laughs yet again and whispers in my ear, "Want me to slap you? Or better yet, pour freezing cold water on your face?"

I don't answer. Too tired.

He splashes water on my face.

"Ah!" I jump up. "That's... fricking _cold_!"

My ears are met with the sound of Loki's laugh again.

"Very funny today, aren't I?" I ask, putting my hands on my hips and smirking.

"You are also very _wet_," he says, tucking a sopping wet strand of my black hair and tucking it behing my dripping ear.

I roll my eyes but smile. "And who's fault is _that_?"

"Mine, though I cannot say that I regret it." He returns my smile and places on of his hands on the side of my still wet face and pulls me closer. When his lips meet mine I close my eyes and let myself kiss him back.

When he finally pulls away, I find myself wanting more. In fact, I want him to kiss me again so much that I slap myself really hard on the cheek.

I'm about to do it again when Loki grips my wrist and holds it tight.

"Henna! Why on _Asgard _would you do that?!" He demands, worry shining in his bright green eyes.

"Maybe because we're on Earth," I mutter, ignoring my stinging face.

"So?!" He seems frustrated. "That's no excuse for you to hit yourself!"

I was trembling now. I was cold and wet and tired and -_face it, Henna_- in love with the man standing in front of me. But, strangely, I didn't _want _to be in love. Sure, I liked the feeling I got when he kissed me, and when he smiled, and the sound of his laugh, and when he held my hand... but then I think of the old Henna Levet, the badass rocker that liked to flip off cab drivers.

That Henna Levet would never fall in love.

That Henna Levet would never let herself be kissed.

That Henna Levet... she wasn't _me_.

Not anymore.

I had to accept that.

I collapsed into Loki's arms and he held me for the longest time.

**X**

The next morning I watched in horror as one of the petals off of Loki's rose fell off. I don't know why, but for some reason I was hoping it would last forever. You know, godly magic and shit.

I dressed and headed to get breakfast, where I got two eggs, toast, and a nice plastic purple cup of OJ.

The rest of the team met me there later. Breakfast: the one meal of the day superheroes can all agree on. I'm still there after everyone else leaves, though, and so is Agent Romanoff.

Natasha sat down next to me and silently ate her eggs. When she finished, she looked at me. "Henna," she said softly. "Sorry about the Bubble."

I snort. "As if I cared! It occupied way too much of my time. I'm glad it's in the past."

"You're talking about it as if it's the guy that just dumped you." A grin pulls its self onto her face.

I smirk. "Yeah, we had a good run, but taking a giant piece of metal to Chinatown was just plain _wierd_."

We start cracking up.

"But seriously," she stops me. "Now we can't keep an eyes on Thanos and the Other."

"Oh. Right." I blink. "Crap."

"Yeah." She looks down at her plate. "Are we even sure they're going to attack at all?"

This question takes me by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_, that maybe they knew about the Bubble and said they would attack to scare us,and then when they didn't they were thinking we would give up on them. Then, maybe in a year or two, they'd give us a surprise attack."

I frown. "So this is all for nothing?"

Natasha shrugs. "I guess."

"But how do we know whether or not you're right?"

"Oh, she is right, alright."

A chill runs down my spine at the sound of that voice. That... _familiar _voice.

I jumped to my feet and looked down at Agent Romanoff to see her frozen in time, unmoving.

Someone stepped out of the shadows.

Thanos.


	10. Chapter 10

I find myself clenching my fists. "What the Hell do you want?" I try to demand, but my voice shakes.

Thanos walks up to me and runs an ice cold finger under my chin. I take step back, and he laughs. "Oh, Henna," he whispers, "You _did _realize that the Bubble's sound works both ways, did you not?"

The color drains from my face. "What... what do you mean?"

He leans closer to me and grins evilly. "I _mean_, the Other and I could here every word you and that _pathetic _excuse for a god uttered while you watched us. _And _what you _did_."

Oh god. "Such as?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

He smirks and walks around me. "I think you know, Henna. Let me put it in a way you will understand: _'the funniest thing of all'_."

That's what Loki had said... right before he kissed me that first time.

Damn.

"Oh, is that all?" I pretended to brush it off like it was nothing. But my heart fluttered nervously in my chest. "That's nothing."

"Are you positive?" Thanos raises an eyebrow. "Last time I checked, it was more than nothing."

"I'm sure." I nodded, my eyes stinging from holding back my screams.

He walks around me again, his eyes studdying me, my features, scanning me. "You are a strong girl, Henna. Twenty eight, now, are you not? Not a girl, a woman."

"I don't think 'woman' is quite the word used to describe me," I say.

"Faith," he says, toying with a loose strand of my hair. "You must have more faith in yourself, Henna. If you were not so tied up in your little agency, your alliance would benefit me greatly. But alas, you do not wish for a life of evil." He stops in front of me, and looks me in the eyes. "Oh, it seems I've forgotten: 'what really defines evil, anyway? maybe what {you're} agency is doing is the evil thing, and what {I am} doing is the good'."

My line. He stole _my _line from _my _speech.

Crap.

"I was just trying to manipulate SHIELD, to get them on my side," I explained, gritting my teeth.

"Manipulation. A good quality to have if you want to join me."

God.

"I'm not going to join you," I say, narrowing my eyes. "No matter _how _many cookies you offer."

The knives are in the air before I can control myself, jumping up in the air behind me.

Thanos frowns momentarily, and before he can process what's happening, the knives are flying through the air, and they would have hit him if he hadn't dissapeared and reappeared two feet away.

"That's good to know," he said thoughfully. Then he glared at me. "If you will not join me, suit yourself. I can destroy you as easily as anyone else in your little group."

"Doubtfully," I say.

He vanishes.

When Agent Romanoff unfreezes, she continues speaking, but I don't hear anything she says because I am running as fast as I can.

**X**

"I'm dead," I anounce, plunking down on the cold metal floor of Loki's cell.

He sits above me on the bench and toys with my hair. "And why is that?"

I tell him everything, and he freezes.

"You resisted," he says, amazed. "Where I could not."

"What do you mean?"

"The Other tried to get me to join him in the same way, Henna."

For some reason, this frustrates me instead of angers me. It frustrates me that I, apparantly, am a good canidate for a villian. It frustrates me that we have no clue when the Other and Thanos will attack.

It frustrates me that I don't know what to do now.

I close my eyes and Loki sits next to me, taking my hand.

"You are brave, you know," he says softly. "To straight out attack him like that."

"I'm stupid," I whisper back. "One false move, and I'm screwed, like you."

He laughs and I lean my head against his shoulder.

Then I punch him in the leg.

"It's not funny," I protest, pursing my lips.

"Yes it is," he says, pressing his lips to mine.

But I pull back.

He looks perplexed.

"Not now," I say softly. "Not... after that."

He nods.

But I still don't fight it when he puts his arm around me and hold me close.

**X**

"So that's it?" Tony blurts. "The guy tried to recruit you and you blew his ass off?"

"Pretty much," I concluded.

"Wow." He blinks. "_La-ame_."

I huff. "Well, sorry that I don't want to be the bad guy, then."

"No, not you. The fact that he left after you tried to kill him? Classic weak guy move."

"Maybe not," Clint says. "Maybe he was just trying to show you that he fears you, but he's acting so that we'll underestimate him."

I think about that, sipping my raspberry latte. The three of us are sitting in the helicarrier's hidden coffee shop that JARVIS found. "That's stupid," I scoff.

"Yeah, but we're all pretty much screwed at this point, so why not just go with it?" Tony shrugs.

I consider this. "Yeah, okay."

**X**

Black sweatpants.

Cher Lloyd T-shirt.

Combat boots.

My hair in a braid.

I take myself in.

It's been a few days sense Thanos tried to rape me. I feel surprisingly better, though.

And-

_BAM_!

"Henna!"

A shout.

My earpiece crackles to life. "New York-"

My door flies open, and Natasha pokes her red head in. "Henna! Thanos and the Other... in New York City..." She gasps as I push past her and bolt down the hall, winding up in Loki's cell.

He glances up as I enter, eyes shocked. I guess I look pretty crappy and flustered. But i ignore him and open the door as fast as possible.

"Thanos and the Other..." The words are barely out of my mouth before he is by my side.

He takes my hand and presses his lips gently to the top of my head and we run down the hallway, hand in hand, to meet the rest of my team in an escape jet.

**Review or I'll make sure Clint and Natasha don't survive.**

**I'm serious.**

**Okay, no, I'm not, but still, I like reviews! XD**


End file.
